This document provides an overview of topics and themes that will be covered on an exam about ancient Greece. The exam will include image identifications, comparisons of image pairs illustrating themes, definitions of art and architectural terms, and an essay question. Image identification questions will require providing the identification, provenience, date, and interpretation for 3 images. Comparison questions will ask for the same details for 2 images and an analysis of how they illustrate a theme. Definition questions will define several terms related to Aegean and Greek art. The essay will ask an open-ended interpretive question about Greek art requiring a thesis and examples.

1. Midterm Review
Ancient Greece

2. 1. Individual image identifications - 15 points (3 images, 5 points for each one; 4 minutes per image)
Give the following information for each image:
Identification - be as precise as you can
Provenience - This is the location. You should name the city or site where the piece comes from. Don't just say Greece -- all
the objects, buildings, etc., covered in this section of the course come from the Greek world. If the original location of a
work is unknown, then say so.
Date - You may give an approximate date or a range of dates, but give a numerical date, not merely the name of a time
period. You should try to be accurate to within a quarter of a century, whenever possible.
Interpretation - Write two or three sentences (complete sentences, not just phrases!) describing the meaning of the
object/structure, etc. Consider such factors as function, state of preservation, where the piece/object was found or
displayed, artist (if known), historical or social significance (if known), who the potential audience of the piece/object might
have been.
2. Comparison and contrast - 30 points (2 pairs of images, 15 points per pair; 11 minutes per pair)
Give the same four pieces of information (ID, provenience, date, interpretation) for each image in the pair. Discuss Image A
(left) first, then Image B (right).
Then compare and contrast the pair. Each pair has been chosen to illustrate a particular theme we have talked about in
class. You should start with a basic organizational statement defining the theme. Consider the following: what does the
theme mean? why is the representation of this theme important in Greek art? how do the two works illustrated here serve
as examples of the theme? how are they similar and how are they different?
3. Definitions - 15 points
You will be given several proper names or terms connected with the art of the Aegean world and ancient Greece and you
will be asked to give brief definitions for them. Write two or three sentences for each term/name, and give a specific
example of a work of art connected with the term, or one which illustrates the meaning of the term.
4. Essay - 40 points
There will be an essay question on an interpretive problem of ancient Greek art. The question will be very general and will
not have a single right or wrong answer. You should try to develop a thesis with supporting arguments, but also be prepared
to back up your general points with references to specific works of art that support your arguments.

3. Themes
Wars/Conflicts, e.g., Persian sack of Athens and its influence esp. on “art”
Mythology-Religious beliefs
•reflection of values of Greek Society
•the narrative in art and architecture
Temple/Sanctuary Significance and Architecture
Greek life was dominated by religion and so it is not surprising that the temples of ancient
Greece were extremely important and exquisitely designed. They also had a political purpose
as they were often built to celebrate civic power and pride, or offer thanksgiving to the
patron deity of a city for success in war.
Art and Architecture
•advancements in technical skill and methods and its influence on “art” and architecture,
development of an independent artistic identity
Social Structure and Government Social Structure
•Greek society was mainly broken up between free people and
slaves , women did not figure prominently in social life
•Greece in the Archaic Period was made up of independent city-states,
or poleis (singular polis) until Alexander the Great created a Monarchy in 336 BCE

5. Types of Greek Vases
Kylix
-a type of wine drinking cup with a
Krater
-a large vase used to
mix wine and water
-bell krater (looks
like an inverted bell)
broad relatively shallow body raised
on a stem from a foot and usually
with two horizontal handle
Amphora
-used for the
transport and
storage of
various
products, both
liquid and dry,
but mostly for
wine

7. Tripod vase by the C Painter; Birth of Athena; 590 BCE
• Black figure
• Depicts Athena being born from the head of Zeus
• She is miniature, but fully grown and armed with weapons
• Zeus sits enthroned with his characteristic lightning bolt
• On either side of Zeus a pair of birth goddess raise their arms to release
the child
• Two gods, Hephaistos (with an axe) and Poseidon (with trident)

8. • black figure amphora
• Dionysus, the god of wine,
holding drinking cup
• 2 menads dancing and partying
while presenting a hare to
Dionysus
• Highly detailed garments
• Amasis painter is known to only
have worked in black figure
Amphora by the Amasis Painter;
560 BCE; Dionysos and menads

9. Amphora by Exekias; 540 BCE; Suicide of Ajax
•
•
•
•
•
•
Black figure amphora
Depicts events leading up to Ajax’s suicide
He is laying down his shield and helmet
Set his sword against a tree
Rare depiction of landscape elements
Balance of light and dark areas with large amount of negative space

10. Interior of kylix; Dionysos on a boat with a grapevine for a mast
• Black figure
• Would use thumbs to grasp handles for drinking and decoration would be
revealed as the drink was being consumed
• Dionysos is on a boat with a grapevine for a mast, white sail, and dolphins
around the boat
• Curves in the composition echo shape of the cup

11. Krater by Euphronios; 515 BCE; Sarpedon carried off the battlefield by Sleep and Death
• Red figure
• Would be used at a symposium, drinking party
• Depicts Sarpedon’s death, winged personifications of sleep ad death carry him
away

12. Amphora by the Kleophrades Painter; 500-490 BCE; Dionysos and menads
•
•
•
•
Red figure
Dionysus depicted holding a vine in one had and a wine glass in the other
Tw menads on either side of him
Nude athletes practicing discus and spear throwing on neck of vase

13. Bell krater by the Pan Painter, 480 BCE; Pan pursues Hermes
•
•
•
•
Red figure
Early classical
Depicts the goat god, Pan pursuing Hermes
Possibly an outdoor scene

14. Kylix by the Brygos Painter, 480 BCE;
revelers
• Red-figure
• Depicts people after a party/
symposium
• Animated figures, dancing, singing,
playing instruments

15. Kylix by the Brygos Painter, interior, showing the morning after a party
• Woman holding head of a young man after over indulgence
• Would have been revealed while drink perhaps t serve as a warning

16. DORIC
• Oldest, simplest order
• Often don’t have bases
• Shafts called flutes
• Plain capitals
• Entablature has distinct frieze with
vertical channels called triglyphs and
metopes in between
IONIC
• More delicate
• Volutes at the capitals
• Usually stand on a base
• Columns are more slender
• Often relief sculptures in the frieze

17. Temple of Aphaia,
500,
Btw archaic and
classical
Temple of Hera, 550 BCE, ARCHAIC
• Doric
• Peripteral colonnade
• Called Basilica after Roman
columnar hall bldg type
• Central row of columns divides cella
into two aisles
• -heavy widely spaced columns
Erechtheion, Athens, 420 BCE, Classical
• Ionic
• Fine decorative details
• Asymmetrical plan
• Caryatid figures

18. Parthenon, Temple of Athena Parthenons,
447, Classical
• Combination of Doric and Ionic
• Mathematical precision, harmonious
design
• Peristyle columns lean in slightly
• Contained a cult statue of Athena

19. Temple of Athena Nike,
built 424-421 BCE
Temple of Aphaia, Aegina, Greece,
500 BCE

20. • Temple of Aphaia
• Aegina
• 500 BCE
•
The temple od Aphaia was built at
the end of the Archaic period during
a time of transition in architecture.
The temple is in the Doric order and
dedicated to Aphaia, a local nymph.
Its columns are more slender and
spaced out than columns of previous
temples. This is characteristic of the
Doric Order. Painted life sized
statuary filled both pediments
depicting the battle of the Greeks
and the Trojans.
• Temple of Athena Nike
• Athens
• 420 BCE
•
The temple of Athena/Nike, built in
the Classical period, sits atop of the
Athenian Acropolis as part of a
sanctuary complex. It is dedicated to
Nike, the goddess of victory. This
temple was constructed in the Ionic
order which has volute (curly)
capitols on columns.
The Temple of Aphaia and the Temple of Athena/Nike are both situated in prominent,
elevated locations and are part of sanctuary complexes. They both have statuary on their
facades depicting battle scenes, however, the statuary on the Temple of Aphaia is on the
pediment while the statuary on the Temple of Nike is on the frieze below the pediment.
Although they were built within the same century, they were constructed in different
architectural styles. The temple of Aphaia is in the Doric order and has columns around
the entire temple, called a peristyle. The Temple of Athena/ Nike was built in the Ionic
order and only has columns in the front and back, called an amphiprostyle.

21. Alexander mosaic, mosaic depicting Alexander and Darius, the Persian king at the
battle of the Issos, Roman copy of a painting, ca. 310 BCE (mosaic is in Pompeii,
original provenience of painting unknown)